


Unfrozen

by AwesomeMapleBirdie



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - Future, Angst, Apocalypse, Blood, Gore, M/M, Mentioned Character Death, Past Character Death, Post-Apocalypse, Sci-Fi, UKUS, implied PruCan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-06
Updated: 2016-04-27
Packaged: 2018-05-31 11:28:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6468505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AwesomeMapleBirdie/pseuds/AwesomeMapleBirdie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur had leukemia. Figuring he would die anyway, he risked his life by taking part in a cryogenic freezing experiment, only to be awoken in the post apocalypse.</p><p>Rating may go up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Get in the freezer” They said, “You’ll be cured of your Leukemia” they said. It honestly was a good idea at the time, but really, he should have just let himself die. Not like anyone would miss him, anyway. His parents were dead and his many brothers… Well, they weren’t so close. They were more like childhood bullies. Especially Allister. Oh boy did he loathe that guy. He even had the audacity to look just like him, having those generic thick Kirkland family eyebrows and those acid green eyes, similar to his own emerald ones. The only difference was that he was a hell of a lot taller and his hair was flaming red rather than his own straw-blond hair. Really, Dylan was the only brother he could at least stand.  
Back on topic, Arthur Kirkland, a middle-class British man, had leukemia. Terminal leukemia. Since he was going to face inevitable death soon, he decided to partake in a little experiment. He was going to be frozen and preserved so he could essentially stay alive until they find a cure. When, or if, they did find a cure, he would be unfrozen and given the cure. But if they never found a cure, well, guess he’ll stay frozen forever. It’s not like it mattered anyway. He did volunteer for the experiment, and the chance that he would get to be able to live longer, in the future, might I say, was enticing since his only two choices was die slowly and painfully from a blood cancer, or get frozen and possibly cured but with the chance of dying painlessly from the experiment failing or never being unfrozen. So in the freezer he went, and closed his eyes, being frozen instantly. 

\---

It felt like literally one minute, and Arthur was awake. He looked around to see the entire place in shambles. “What the bloody hell happened here…?” He mumbled as he stepped out of the freezer device. His entire body felt sore, his muscles aching from not being used in so long. He would probably be feeling this for days.  
The young patient looked around, noticing that not only was the place in rumbles from top to bottom, nobody seemed to be around. He briefly wondered how he was unfrozen until he saw the unfreeze button with some debri that fell from the ceiling lying on top of it.  
“Hello…?” He called out. Nobody answered. Where were the doctors with his cure?! “This is a terrible excuse for a prank you know!” He yelled. He then huffed and stomped out of the crumbled building, wearing nothing but a simple hospital gown.  
As soon as he opened the door, Arthur was met with a futuristic-looking ray gun in his face, making him stop short. “Stop. Don’t move until you tell me what you have.” Said an American accented voice. 

“Jesus Christ!” Arthur squawked. “I don’t have anything but this hospital gown on my back! If you want my money, I have none!” 

The taller figure holding the ray gun frowned, his bright blue eyes framed behind glasses scanning him. “Not what I meant. I mean, what do you have. You know, disease-wise.”

Arthur blinked. That was unexpected. A man was threatening him with some killing device and asking what disease he has? Okay then. “I have leukemia.” He stated.

The gun was lowered and the blond man in front of him sighed in relief. “Thank god… He’s not contagious.” He mumbled to a guy who Arthur had just now noticed was next to the first guy. He actually looked almost exactly like him, both having blond hair, the guy wielding the gun having shorter hair with a cowlick in the front, and the other man having slightly longer and wavier hair, a loose curly strand falling in front of his face, with rounder glasses and violet colored eyes. They even have the same facial features, though the violet-eyed man’s face was softer and slightly more feminine in appearance, the other guy having a slightly bulkier build. Twins, maybe.

“The name’s Alfred. This is my twin brother, Matthew.” The blue-eyed man said. Ah, so he was right about the twin thing. Suddenly, Alfred got behind Arthur and pressed the gun to the back of his head. “Follow Matthew. And don’t try anything funny.”

Arthur scoffed. “I should be telling that to you!” He retorted, though followed the man in front of him.

He was soon led to a broken down building, though it actually looked more livable and less in shambles than the building he came from. “This is our temporary shelter. We will be staying here for the night until we can get back home.” Matthew said. His voice was much softer, almost a whisper, unlike Alfred’s loud energetic voice.

“And why the hell are you taking me in the first place? Isn’t kidnapping illegal?” Arthur questioned, scowling dangerously at the two twins. 

Alfred burst into laughter, Matthew even snickering a little. “Silly little dude! There are no laws anymore! Don’t you know that? And we just have some questions to ask you. We promise we won’t kill or torture you if that’s what you think we’ll do.”

Arthur’s thick eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean there are no laws anymore? You are not making any sense.”

“Oh, right, you must have been frozen before the virus happened. Yeah basically we might be some of the last few humans in the world.” Alfred said casually.

“W-what?! You’re telling me this now?!” Arthur sputtered.

This time, the quieter twin, Matthew spoke up. “Arthur, calm down. I know this isn’t a pleasant thing to find out, but stressing out about it will not help at all.”

“Calm down?! Ha! You want me to calm down?! Ha ha ha!! No, I just got unfrozen and here you gits are waving a bloody gun in my face being like ‘Oh hello, welcome back to the world! Here have some cookies, by the way, we are in the middle of a post-apocalypse and everyone is dead so have a nice day!’ Hell no! I am not going to stay calm, you stupid twats!” Yelled Arthur. “Where the hell are my doctors?! Where’s my leukemia cure?? I volunteered to be frozen so I could be cured, not wake up to my own impending doom!” By now, the angry British man was breathing heavily, a deep scowl on his face. He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and aimed his glare at the owner of said hand, Alfred.

“There, there, let it all out, angry little guy.” He said, patting his shoulder, though his hand was quickly swatted away. 

“Bastard! Don’t you dare touch me!”

“Jeez, calm your potty mouth, mister!”

“Oh shut up! How did your brother even know my name anyway?”

“Your name was right on the placard in front of the tube you were in, Arthur Kirkland.” 

Arthur huffed and looked away from the offending man. “Whatever. Has your generation invented a cure for leukemia yet?” He asked.

Alfred brightened up more at that. “Yeah! In fact, we have a cure for almost all the cancers! It’s a simple injection, actually.” 

The green-eyed man seemed to appear relieved from the news. “Oh thank goodness. So where is it?” He asked.

Alfred’s cocky grin dropped into a frown. “Yeah, well, um…”

“Come on, lad, spit it out.” He pressed.

“Yeah it’s kinda sorta very far from here. We might have to trek across a few states to get there.” He mumbled, biting his lip.

“Are you freaking- Bloody hell, you are so useless…” Arthur sighed, hitting his forehead with his hand.

Matthew smiled bitterly at Arthur, putting a hand on Arthur’s shoulder like Alfred did, but it was more comforting than obnoxious. He briefly noticed a golden wedding band on his ring finger, and wondered if whoever he was married to was still around. “We can go get the cure for you, it will just take a while. For now, we need to wait until tomorrow before we head back to base. It’s too dark out to travel now, and since the human population is almost gone, a lot of wild animals have reclaimed the land, so it is dangerous.”

Arthur raised a thick eyebrow. “Wild animals…?” He questioned.  
Matthew nodded. “Yeah, that’s um… That’s actually how my husband died…” He whispered, biting his lip. He had noticed Arthur staring at his wedding ring so he decided to answer his unasked question. “He was attacked by a mountain lion while out hunting at night. By the time we got to him, he had already bled out.” Those violet eyes filled with a few tears, but he wiped them away and sniffled. 

“Oh my… I’m so sorry, Matthew…” Arthur whispered. “I’m sure he was a great man.”  
Matthew smiled sadly. “Gilbert was a wonderful guy. I don’t think I would have made it this far without him.” 

Even Alfred looked quite sad from the conversation. “I liked Gilbert a lot. Even though he could often be an arrogant asshole.”

The smaller twin chuckled softly. “He was an asshole. But I loved him either way.”

“Anywaaaaaay!” Alfred chirped, wanting to change the subject. “We should probably eat then go to sleep. We have a pretty long way to go tomorrow and I would like to get to base before nightfall.”

Matthew nodded in agreement and grabbed the bag he was carrying, then pulled out some potato chips, bags of dried fruit, and beef jerky, as well as three bottles of water. “Arthur, I want to inform you, please don’t eat too much. You’ve been frozen for a very long time so your stomach is no longer used to food. You will end up puking, and we cannot afford to waste any food.” He said, a very serious look on his face. He then turned to Alfred. “And you, oh brother of mine. Don’t hog all the food. Especially since we have one more mouth to feed. We have to ration it carefully. 

Alfred groaned in annoyance, but nodded. “Yeah, whatever.”

Arthur looked down, biting his lip. “I… I’m sorry guys. I must be such a burden. I’m dying anyway, and you are sharing your precious food with me.”

Alfred frowned. “Come on, Artie. You aren’t dying. We said we will get you the cure, didn’t we?”

He nodded, but chewed on his lower lip. “Yes, but… What if I die before you do? Would it even be worth it? Worth all the effort, the food and water?” He asked, looking up into bright blue eyes.  
Alfred sighed and patted Arthur’s back. “Dude, quit fretting. You aren’t gonna die. I’m pretty sure your leukemia is still in its beginning stages. Even better, because the cure is more likely to work.” 

The green-eyed man nodded, sighing as he took the small portion of food Matthew handed to him, then started to eat. He never really realized how hungry he was until now, especially since he had to fast before he was frozen. It wasn’t good for him if he had anything in his stomach while frozen, it could really screw his body up. Once Arthur had scarfed down his food (much faster than Alfred nonetheless), he sat back and waited for the others to finish. Everyone finished not long after and guided Arthur to the sleeping quarters. Fortunately, the beds were still pretty good shape, so asleep they went.

\---

The next morning, Arthur woke to clothes being thrown at his face, a voice saying, “Get up, get dressed. You aren’t wearing that hospital gown today because we’re tired of seeing your butt sticking out of it.”

It was Alfred. Arthur shot up and glared at said man, his face bright red, the clothes sliding off his face. “And why were you staring at my arse?! Huh?!” He countered.

Alfred blushed. “Er… I wasn’t! I-it was just there!” He said quickly.

The Englishman huffed, crawling out of bed and heading to another room to get changed. He was given a simple white button down shirt and some tan shorts. Not exactly matching, but he wasn’t going to refuse clothing at this point. He got dressed and met up with the others for breakfast before heading off, beginning their journey in search of the the cure to Arthur’s leukemia.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys get to the base, and things take an interesting turn when Matthew meets an old enemy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning, this chapter contains violence, blood, gore, and the death of an animal. If you are uncomfortable with this, turn back now.

The soil was dry and cracked, and it was sweltering hot out, only a few plants growing between the cracks in the dirt. Apparently, this place was once lush and beautiful, up until everyone in this area got infected with a terrible, contagious disease. It wasn’t some sort of zombie disease, thank goodness, but it was very deadly. The government had ordered troops to bomb this area to rid of the infected people. It was their last attempt to rid of the disease, but unfortunately, it had failed, only resulting in death, and violent protests towards the government. What was left of this beautiful valley in California, was now gone, replaced with lifeless, dry land that was destroyed by the radiation from the bombings. It was at least safe to walk through here now, with most of the radiation having faded away a while back. Matthew had even tested it with some strange device just to make sure.  
Apparently, they were only halfway to the base, and it was the middle of the day. The vast, barren land looked endless, and Arthur, not being used to walking this much, was getting sore. “Ugh… My feet hurt. Are you sure we can’t take a break yet?” 

“I can carry you if you want.” Alfred offered, grinning.

“I think I would rather suffer, thank you.” The Englishman sighed. 

“Patience.” Matthew said. “We are almost out of this area. We will be hiking through some woods, next. If we go quickly enough, we may have time for a break.”

Alfred’s smile got bigger. “Alright! Let’s hurry outta this hellhole!” He said, grabbing Arthur by the arm and running ahead.

“Alfred! Let me go! Learn to respect personal space!” Arthur yelled, though Alfred only cackled in response. Boy did this guy have a lot of energy. He was just like a big puppy dog.

Arthur had no choice but to follow the American man, though complained the whole time. “Let me go! My feet still hurt!” Alfred pouted and let go, and Arthur rubbed his sore wrist. “You fucking idiot. Keep your hands to yourself.

Matthew rolled his eyes, though had an amused smile on his face. “Come on, boys. Quit flirting. You can be gay for each other later.”

Arthur sputtered and looked at Matthew in shock, not really expecting that to come from the quieter male. “W-what?! Oh hell no! I would never flirt with that brainless fool!”

“You may think he is brainless, but Alfred is a lot smarter than you think.” Matthew said, looking smug.

Alfred nodded and put an arm around Arthur’s shoulders, though was quickly shrugged off, to his disappointment. He hasn’t had contact with very many humans lately and if there was an attractive man here with him that was not blood related and mourning his dead husband, then he was going to flirt, dammit!

The British male started walking at least a foot away from Alfred, blushing. Though he couldn’t help but think that maybe it would be nice to have those arms around him again. If it weren’t so damn hot outside. For now, he ignored the American boy’s advances, not being much of a social person anyway.

\---

By the time the sun was starting to set, they had finally reached the base. Arthur looked around in awe after he was led inside. This building wasn’t broken down, and everything in the first room was a sterile white color. There were various strange devices, as well as beakers and other things that appeared to be experiments. 

“Yeah, sorry about the mess. Alfred doesn’t clean up after himself.” Matthew apologized. 

Arthur only waved him off, and was soon led to a room that wasn’t blinding white like the lab was. It looked like a normal bunk room, complete with dressers and a wardrobe that mainly held hazmat suits. 

“This is where we will be sleeping.” Alfred said, grinning. It definitely looked a lot better than the place they stayed at the night before. “We will be sharing a bunk bed, but I call top!”

Arthur frowned and crossed his arms. “I never said I would share with you. There are plenty of other bunks and I’d rather have my own, twat.”

The younger looking blond had a slightly hurt look on his face then huffed. “Fine, be that way, Artie.” He mumbled, pouting.

The Brit rolled his eyes and laid down in one of the beds on a top bunk next to a window. That was when he noticed movement outside. He quickly sat upright and stared more intently out the window, trying to figure out what that strange moving silhouette was. Soon, the silhouette moved into a more lit up area, and now Arthur could clearly see what it was. “My god… Is that a mountain lion?” He asked. 

Matthew perked up and looked out the window. He then gasped before his eyes narrowed. The creature looked to be malnourished, and must have caught the scent of humans, so it was in search of them for a meal. It had a large scar on the side of its muzzle and one ear ripped entirely off. It also had what appeared to be scars from stab-wounds in its sides, making it obvious that it had clashed with a human. “That’s the one…” He whispered,

Arthur glanced over at Matthew. “What…?”

“That’s the one…. It’s the one that killed Gilbert.” Matthew’s whispering turned into a harsh growl, a sound you wouldn’t expect from a soft-hearted, soft-spoken man like him. The anger on his face didn’t even suit that gentle personality at all. Now, he just looked angry. Boiling with rage and pain with a broken heart and the need for vengeance clearly showing on his face. He suddenly got up and grabbed a shotgun that was leaning on the wall next to his bed.

“Matthew, wait-” Arthur called out. 

“No! I’m not letting the fucker get away this time!” The normally quiet man yelled. 

Even Alfred looked shocked by his brother’s change in demeanor. “Mattie, bro, just let it go.” He said, biting his lip. “You do that every time you see a large cat!”

The smaller twin shook his head. “No. This time I’m sure it’s the one! I’m gonna fucking kill it, Alfred! Just like it killed my own husband! I’m gonna eat the bastard too! Just like how it ate most of Gilbert! I’m doing it!”  
Alfred got up to make an attempt at consoling his brother, but Matthew had already dashed out of the room with the gun. He quickly followed him, Arthur going with them as well. 

Matthew was standing in front of the growling, starving cat, gun cocked and aimed at its head. 

“Matthew! It was just trying to survive!” Alfred pleaded.

“No!” Matthew yelled. Just then, the mountain lion hissed and leaped towards Matthew. It nearly had its sharp teeth around his throat when a loud bang sounded and the large animal fell to the ground with a thud. Matthew stood there, breathing heavily with blood splattered all over him. He then pulled out his pocket knife and flipped the large cat onto its back with a shocking amount of strength that was accompanied by adrenaline. He flipped the knife open and started cutting open its belly until he reached the stomach. He cut the stomach open as well before reaching in and grabbing something. The blonde growled as he pulled out what appeared to be an iron cross necklace covered in blood, then held it to his chest. That was the moment he broke. He began sobbing, clutching the necklace tightly.

Alfred and Arthur both stood in shock as they watched the whole scene. They wouldn’t mention this at a moment like this, but at least they had more food.

The sobbing twin then looked down at the mountain lion through watery eyes before reaching a blood-covered arm into its stomach again and pulling out a wedding ring that was worn by none other than Gilbert. The memory of his deceased lover made Matthew sob harder, and he held the precious items close to his chest as he shook and allowed tears mixed with blood run down his face.

His brother walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder, then sat next to his bloodied twin and pulled him into a tight hug, which was quickly returned, and he went into a fit of sobbing and wailing.

It was so, so obvious that Matthew still was never over Gilbert’s death. He only bottled it up until this point, and had finally exploded with rage and grief.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur's condition takes a downfall, and Matthew just can't get over Gilbert.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter gets pretty angsty, I shall warn ya.

Matthew hadn’t spoken a single word for the rest of that night. He had cleaned up the pieces of jewelry he had collected from the mountain lion’s stomach, and was currently wearing the iron cross necklace that was once his husband’s.

All three men had cooked the meat from the creature Matthew killed and ate it, having a lot more left over for the next few nights. After they ate, they settled into bed. Matthew had fallen asleep due to exhaustion from the incident that happened moments earlier. Alfred and Arthur were both still awake, staring silently into the darkness. That was when Arthur spoke up.

“Alfred?” He whispered.

“Hm?” Alfred responded, shifting in his bed and putting his glasses on before looking at Arthur. “What’s up?”

“Is Matthew always like this? I mean, is he okay?”

Alfred shook his head. “Matthew was happy before Gilbert died. He was so devastated, but he’s been bottling up his emotions since he died a couple days ago.”

“Wow, that recent, huh?” Arthur asked. He felt sorry for the poor boy. He had lost someone so close to him.

“Yeah. He’ll recover eventually, though. He got his revenge.” The blue-eyed man mumbled. “Let’s go to sleep. We have to prepare for when we head to another base. We gotta get that cure for you.”

Arthur nodded, then settled down to sleep. Nobody knew that tomorrow would hold many challenges for the three men.

\---

The next morning, Arthur woke up covered in sweat, his hair and clothes damp. He felt so cold and curled up under the blankets, shivering. “Fuck… I’m so cold…” He mumbled, curling up tighter.

Soon, Alfred went to wake Arthur up, but noticed he was staring off into space and shivering. “Arthur…? Are you alright?” He asked.

The shivering man nodded and pulled the blanket tighter around him. “Y-yeah, I’m just really cold…” He mumbled, his voice shaking.

Alfred placed a hand on his forehead, frowning. “Dude, you have a fever. This isn’t good. I hope you’re not sick.” Just then, he remembered that Arthur, was in fact sick. With leukemia. He grabbed his bag and pulled out a strange little tablet, then tapped on it a few times before a hologram screen popped up, showing a document that contained symptoms of leukemia. One of them was pink spots on the skin. He let go of the device, which hovered in the air, and pulled the blanket down. He looked over his arms, finding the pink splotches on them. “That’s right… We didn’t see any symptoms when we found you because your body was still adjusting to being unfrozen…”  
Arthur snatched his arm away and grumbled as he pulled the blankets back up, covering his head. “Leave me alone....”

Matthew had woken up a few minutes ago, and was watching most of what happened. “Does this mean we will be taking the emergency truck?”

The bigger twin nodded. “Yeah. I hope we will be able to make it. We only have a limited amount of gas. Unless we can break into an abandoned gas station and steal the money out of the register to use the machines. But so far, I haven’t seen one for miles.” He then looked down at Arthur. “Stay here. We’re going to pack up and get ready.”

The Brit only grumbled once more and shivered as he pulled the covers over his head. He didn’t feel good at all. Alfred left the room but returned with more blankets, covering Arthur with them. That had instantly helped, because he began shaking less.

Matthew got up with his brother, though he still hasn’t spoken a single word. Alfred seemed to be the only one that could understand his body language and facial expressions to know what he was communicated. It was probably a twin thing. The two brothers ate, and packed up together, and Matthew put the mountain lion meat in an instant dehydrator so they could have plenty and not worry about it going bad. Alfred made a breakfast of wild berries and the leftover meat for Arthur, and went to the bunks.

“Artie, I got you some breakfast.” He said, gently shaking him.

Arthur mumbled something unintelligible and sat up, keeping the blankets wrapped around him. He then took the plate from Alfred and began nibbling on his food slowly. He felt so tired that he could barely eat well. He was only able to eat half of his meal before handing the plate back, making Alfred worried.

“You gotta eat more than that, Artie. You need to make sure you got all the energy you can get to help fight off this cancer.”

Arthur shrugged and looked down at his lap. “I’m not very hungry at the moment.” He said softly.

Alfred sighed and picked up some of the mountain lion meat, pressing it to Arthur’s lips. “One more bite. Then I’ll leave.”

The older male growled and glared up at him with burning green eyes. “I can feed myself, thank you very much!” He snapped as he grabbed at the meat.

Alfred jerked his hand away in time. “Ah, ah, ah! How do I know if you’re not gonna just toss it? We can’t waste food, you know.” He chided.

Arthur huffed and crossed his arms, but opened his mouth, allowing Alfred to slide it into his mouth. “Fucking hell…” He mumbled after swallowing. “You aren’t my bloody mother, you know.”

The other male shrugged. “I know, but someone’s gotta be your doctor.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Go away and let me sleep.” He muttered.

“Alright, good-whatever-time-it-is, man.” Alfred said as he left the room, closing the door. Next, he headed to the couch where Matthew was sitting to go check on him. He knew he was not okay mentally, considering what had happened the previous day.

“Hey Mattie-bro.” Alfred said, sitting next to him. His twin’s expression never changed, and he continued to stare out the window, as if hoping the one he lost would show back up from his hunting trip like nothing happened.

“What, Alfred?” He mumbled.

Alfred sighed and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “You need to stop staring out that window. I’m sorry to say this, but he’s not coming back.”

Matthew looked up at his brother, his eyes red and puffy. He had obviously been crying. To make matters worse, he couldn’t stop imagining Gilbert comforting him like he always did when he was upset.

_“Come on, Birdie, It’ll be okay. I got ya, and I won’t let anything happen to you. So please, please show me that cute smile of yours?”_

He could remember it clear as day, those beautiful ruby eyes holding love and affection, that look that comforted him, that contagious grin, and those warm, strong arms wrapping around him, protecting him. Now he was gone. Gone for good, and never to return, no matter how much he begged this hell of a planet to bring him back. Matthew broke down, sobbing as he held onto his brother, his face buried into his shoulder as he shook and cried and screamed.

  
“I want him back, Alfred! I _need_ him! He was the only one that knew what I was going through!” He sobbed, gripping his twin’s shirt. He then looked down and sniffled. “I miss him calling me Birdie… A-and his cuddles… And… And… And everything else!”

“I know, I know…” Alfred whispered. “But you gotta let it go. It’s not good for you to keep holding on. Just know that he still wants you happy, kay?”

Matthew nodded and rubbed his watery eyes. “O-okay…” He mumbled, leaning his head on his brother’s chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did that make you cry yet? Anyway, they will finally go out to look for gas, next! Though I'm planning on adding a little action to trouble them a bit, and I can't decide who the antagonist shall be. Any suggestions?


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Alfred, Arthur, and Matthew go out to find gasoline, some more trouble happens. Do these guys ever get a break??

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if the paragraph format is a bit wonky. This computer I'm using sucks so bad. Also apologies for the shortness of the chapter. I am very busy with a very big economics project, and since it's my last year of high school, I cannot afford to fail that class.

Once Matthew had been calmed down enough, and they got Arthur ready as well as grabbed some weapons, all three of them headed out. Alfred was riding a four-wheeled vehicle that didn’t run on gas like a car, it was driven with pedals like a bike. He had built it himself. It wasn’t as fast as a car, and one could tire out eventually, so Matthew and Alfred had agreed to take turns driving it. In the back, there were a couple of seats, and Arthur and Matthew stayed in the back while Alfred pedaled. Really, it was a great invention for this situation because it didn’t require any sort of fuel. Alfred had put a small generator in it to power up the air conditioner in there, but the generator was nowhere near powerful enough to power the vehicle. A generator that’s big enough is extremely hard to find, and may even be too heavy to allow the vehicle to move.

Arthur couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty that he couldn’t have a turn at driving. He had offered to do so, but the twins had insisted that he stay in the back and rest. The three of them looked out the windows and glanced around as they searched for abandoned gas stations. 

They had hoped that they wouldn’t have to stray far from the vicinity of their base, but unfortunately, they had no choice because there were no gas stations close enough. Instead, they headed to the city that was full of crumbling, abandoned buildings. Hopefully at least one of the worn down gas stations will have some gas left. And possibly food. But the food would probably be all gone because other survivors would have gotten to it first. 

Soon, the three men had come across an empty Chevron station once they had entered the city. Alfred got out of the vehicle with Arthur and headed inside the building carrying a crowbar while Matthew waited by their ride. 

They went straight for the cash register and Alfred began trying to open it with the crowbar, but was having trouble. He tried prying it open in different ways, and around ten minutes later, he started getting frustrated and started hitting the thing over and over again with the crowbar.

“Fuckin’ piece o’ shit!!” Alfred cursed. “I hate these things!”

Arthur sighed and shook his head, pushing Alfred out of the way before pushing a button and watching the cash register pop open. Alfred stared at Arthur in disbelief, who was smirking. He actually knew how to open it the whole time, but he wanted to watch Alfred suffer a little because it gave him so much amusement.

“You know, Alfred, if you were more observant, you would have finished this up more easily.” He said casually, grabbing a bunch of bills out of the register. They all ranged from ones to one hundreds, even a couple five hundreds. Arthur basically cleared the entire register, stuffing the money into a bag. “Though I will admit, it was awfully fun to watch you get frustrated over such an easy task.”

Alfred pouted and crossed his arms. “You’re such a jerk, you know that?” He grumbled.

Arthur just shrugged, a smirk on his face. “Yeah, I know. But I’m probably dying anyway, so why not have some fun?” He teased.

Soon, they returned to where Matthew was and grabbed some empty gas cans to fill up, and started doing just that. As the three of them filled up cans of gas, there was the sudden sound of a gun being cocked, and the cold metal of the barrel pressed against the back of Arthur’s head.That was when they heard a deep voice speak up.

“Make another move, and your buddy here gets shot.” Warned the male. 

Arthur froze, tensing up as he felt the man’s breath against the back of his neck.

“I want all the gasoline, that vehicle, and any weapons you may have. If you comply with me, then I will let you live. If you don’t…” He trailed off. “Well, I think you guys should be smart enough to know what would happen.”

Alfred and Matthew slowly began to set the gas cans down near the man, then their weapons before slowly lifting their hands up.

Arthur bit his lip as he watched. “You guys don’t have to do this… It wouldn’t matter if I got shot.”  
Alfred glared at him. “It does matter, Arthur!” He growled before aiming his glare at the thief. 

The man just chuckled and began gathering everything, loading it into the vehicle. “Maybe I should take you three along. Make you my pets. But then again, that would me more mouths to feed, so I should only take one of you.” He said, glancing between the three men. “Hmm… But which one~?”He then looked at Alfred and walked over to him, pinning his wrists above him against a wall. “I think I may take you. You’re a bit feisty, but I bet I can break you.”

Arthur growled as he watched this, balling his hands into fists. How dare he touch Alfred! Since the man was distracted, Arthur quickly grabbed a large machete from the ‘car’ and lunged at the man, who was turning around when he was alerted by the sound of the door from the vehicle opening. At that moment, Matthew dove in and took the chance to snatch the gun from the distracted thief’s hand while Alfred slid away from him. Arthur brought the knife up and plunged it into the man’s throat, grinning in victory as he watched blood trickle down his neck. He then yanked the knife out and watched the guy stumble backward as deep red blood gushed from the wound in his neck, then he fell backward, not moving. He died so quickly from losing so much blood, as well as having his windpipe slashed open. Arthur panted and let the knife drop to the cement with a clatter, feeling the adrenaline still pumping through him.

Alfred stayed against the wall, chest heaving as he was breathing heavily, his pupils dilated from shock. Just as Matthew moved to go to his brother’s side, Arthur beat him to it, and pulled Alfred into a tight hug. 

“Alfred… Are… Are you okay?” He panted, feeling him shake in his arms.

Alfred gave a small nod, his breathing starting to even out more. Arthur slowly let go of him, cheeks turning pink. It wasn’t often that he showed concern like that.

“L-let’s just hurry up and fill these cans so we can go…” Alfred mumbled, shakily picking up one of the gas cans.

Arthur nodded and Matthew helped load everything up, and the two got into the vehicle before starting to pedal home, this time, Matthew being the one driving. At least they now had enough gas to take a trip to the next few states and back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I decided on having a random guy rob them rather than an actual character. I felt bad about killing off Gilbert as it is, and I didn't want to kill off another one of our precious babies. :(  
> May Gilbert forever remain in our hearts.


End file.
